This is an excellent snare drum. It's the first 8x14 that I've owned, not the first I've played. It sounds excellent and really can add some depth to a drum set's sound. It is full, lively and crisp. You might want to replace the heads, but I found them to be responsive and able to handle tension adjustments while having a nice, full tone. The appearance is beautiful and the natural finish really can work with almost any set without making it look clumsy. The epic snare looks and sounds great. I could not expect more, especially for the price.

I have a 1975 Ludwig 7 piece Overdrive set with maple ply shells. I love this set and will never part with it but it has an aluminum Supraphonic Ludwig snare. It's been a great snare and I have tuned it various ways to get various sounds from it, but it's a metal snare. Therefore, I've been looking for a wooden snare for some time without spending enough money to buy an entirely new set. I thought that it would be nice to stay with the Ludwig brand and so I got the 13"x6.5" natural maple snare. I changed out the stock head for an Evans HD Dry and put an Aquarian Studio Ring on to reduce the ring and it sounds amazing! So much more depth and punch than my Supraphonic and it lacks that metallic ring. I'm definitely glad to have both now in my arsenal.

I love this drum. I was on the fence between this and a Pork Pie Little Squealer. But I took this because I trust Ludwig to give me quality product. They didn't disappoint. The stock batter head didn't last long because I'm a heavy hitter but I slapped an Evan's head on it and it hasn't given me any trouble since. I like my snares tuned high and this drum is no exception. I trust Ludwig because they take care of their customers. If you need a snare for a good price this is the way to go.

This snare drum sounds good after a switch of reso head to either a Hazy 300 or an Ambassador Snare Reso. I also changed the snare wires to a Puresound custom pros. Now, the snare sounds amazing. Btw, for those who have the tension watch, I would recommend the batter to around 87 and the reso to around 79.

Overall, I would recommend this snare to anyone and everyone who plays, has ever played, or is looking for something beautiful to stare at and has the extra money laying around. It's perfect for the style of music I play and I've been wanting a whopping big snare for a long time and finally I can afford one and it's simply incredible!I got the 8x14" Transparent Black option. Typically with snares you think you are going to have to replace the heads first thing before you can get the sound you want out of it, however, this snare comes with a Remo head already on it that I would argue is just as good, if not better, than any head you could find out there to replace it. The snares are awesome. The hardware is beautiful! This is an amazing drum!!I have been playing on this snare for almost a week now, not quite, and I can already tell that when this drum gets too old to play anymore, if it ever does, I'm going to want to buy another one just like it. This is the best snare I've ever owned or played, period!Basically, you will never find another snare out there with this type of delivery for such an amazingly cheap price. I have a new found respect for Ludwig because they have made, in my opinion, one of the best snares out there and have priced it below the majority of other snares that will not even sound as good as this one.